Heartache
by Vanity-chan
Summary: A still tongue keeps a wise head." "You just called the two of us idiots." ItaSaku. Slight SasuSaku implied.


A/N: This is a request from my cousin yet again, and for Itachi's birthday which is also my cousin's birthday

A/N: This is a request from my cousin yet again, and for Itachi's birthday which is also my cousin's birthday. I couldn't resist, so here. My first ever ItaSaku. **SasuSaku implied**. Please take note of that. Well, this is not actually the _first_ ItaSaku I wrote, but the first one I'll ever post at .

This might be a little OOC (especially Itachi) for your liking, but I think my cousin likes this kind of Itachi anyway, so I guess it is okay. " Oh, and let's just say Itachi did not die. What I want goes the way I want it to be. :p

Disclaimer: Doing this thing is like having reality slapped in my face. XD Kidding aside, I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. :)

Oh, and thanks to my beta-reader, **disconnected15. **Enjoy.

* * *

**Heartache**  
By: Vanity-chan

"_You need a medic? Is that another way of saying you need me, Uchiha-san? Not me as a medic, but me as Haruno Sakura."_

* * *

-

-

It was a very wonderful and bright sunny day for the people of Konoha, a day wherein most of them were enjoying their day-off. A day that the Rokudaime, the newly appointed Hokage, made a holiday. A freaking "Ramen Holiday—"

Okay, scratch that.

Yes, it was a very wonderful and bright sunny day for the people of Konoha, except for one Haruno Sakura who is sure as hell in a bad mood. It was a holiday, and here she was, away from her beloved hometown in the middle of the forest, all because the _Rokudaime _gave her a solo-mission.

If you're thinking that it's an extremely and awfully hard mission, you are definitely mistaken. It was the easiest mission of all, especially for Sakura, who was a head medic and all.

Her ex-teammate sent her on a solo-mission. And that is to pick herbs.

Yes, folks, herbs. Herbs that Konoha supposedly needs very, very badly, as quoted from Uzumaki Naruto.

Sakura knew that Naruto was only trying to help her by giving her a day-off, away from her responsibilities in the hospital. She insisted to stay in there even if everyone else was hanging around with their families and friends on a holiday.

It seemed that Naruto wanted her to enjoy this day, a very special day that was dear to his heart, the Ramen Holiday.

She sighed, knowing that all her mental whining and screaming would do nothing to change the situation, and her inner self would probably scold her continuously inside her mind for the whole day. So she decided to just give in.

Come what may. Nothing would go wrong today.

Oh, how wrong she was at that.

* * *

-

-

Uchiha Itachi was happy, to say the least.

If you mean strolling in the woods all alone, with an indifferent expression on his aristocratic face, _happy_, then I guess you could say he was indeed happy. It was his birthday anyway. He was celebrating inwardly in his own manly Uchiha way of doing so.

It was enough for him to not think of anything else, even just for today. No little brother hunting him, no Akatsuki who couldn't even return his courtesy, and definitely no Madara whom he called "a pathetic shell of his former existence." Nothing.

So he was just going to continue enjoying this day as much as he could. After all, this day might not come again. His peace would soon be ruined. He had things left to do, but he wouldn't be thinking of those now.

He was free to do anything he willed to do today. He believed that this special day couldn't get any better.

And just as he was about to continue his musings, a familiar pink head caught his attention.

_This day couldn't get any better? Heh, I believe I spoke to soon._

* * *

-

-

And so he approached her, stood in front of her to block her path, smiled one of his occasional smiles, in all his Uchiha glory. "Nice to see you again, Haruno Sakura-san."

"U-Uchiha Itachi…" She purposely let her voice fade away weakly, her hand stopped midway as she reached for the herbs.

No mistake, it was the older brother of her ex-teammate (also ex-crush), Uchiha Itachi. She would never mistake him with another person, what with his long black hair neatly tied in a ponytail on his nape and his face with the perfect, almond-shaped, red eyes that she found herself lost into, his chiseled nose, his perfectly shaped lips that looked so inviting an—

"Let's cut to the chase. I need a medic."

Straightening up, she blinked, his deep voice stopped her thoughts from echoing in her still confused mind. When it all started to sink in, her eyes widened, her mouth agape as she stared at him like he suddenly grew two heads.

"What?"

"I need a medic." His voice was surprisingly calm, patiently repeating what he just said for the kunoichi gaping at him.

Sakura snorted, ignoring the sudden quickening of her heartbeat. "You need a medic? Is that another way of saying you need me, Uchiha-san? Not me as a medic, but me as Haruno Sakura." She swallowed the lump in her throat and released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She was nervous and it was quite understandable. In front of her was a nukenin, one of the most dangerous ones.

"And why would I need _you_, Sakura-san?"

Her eyes narrowed in a flash, glaring at him with so much intensity. "Who gave you the permission to call me by my first name?"

"No one… Haruno-san."

Itachi raised an eyebrow in amusement, realizing that she had just changed the topic. He walked closer to her, ignoring the way she stiffened, as if debating on whether to run away or to stay. It seemed that she decided to stay when her feet stood still against the forest floor, her right hand resting itself on the tree trunk.

"Come with me. There's a small cottage nearby." He offered his hand to her, the other one dangling at his side, where his weapon was safely placed against his waist. Sakura seemed to notice this, her own hand slowly finding its way to her pouch.

"Why should I trust you? The last time we met, it was also like this, we were alone, and you nearly killed me." Her hand against the tree trunk tightened into a fist as she recalled that incident a year ago. She was seventeen then, and still expecting for Sasuke's return. It was different now. "You could've killed me..."

Itachi lowered the hand that he offered to her, seeing as she would not take it. "You're not an easy one to coax, aren't you?"

"You aren't either."

He chuckled lightly, surprising Sakura. She had never heard him laugh before, believing that Uchiha's do not laugh, since she had never heard Sasuke laugh either.

"A lady after my own heart." He took her hand swiftly, activating his Mangekyou when she moved her head to look him in the eye.

Sakura froze, her eyes stopping abruptly on the necklace around his neck. His grip on her hand was light, meaning that he was giving her a choice to run away, but she saw his other hand move closer to his waist where his weapon was, indicating that he would run after her if she ever thought of running away.

She groaned inaudibly, enough for him to hear it. He acted as if he was giving her a choice, when in reality, he was making her realize that whatever she chose would end up with only one conclusion: he would take her no matter what.

She pulled her hand back. "Fine."

* * *

-

-

"Just to let you know, I will not think of being a nukenin like you." She said quietly as she sat inside the small cottage Itachi brought her to. It was the first thing she said after their short walk from the spot where he caught her.

"I know that." He glanced at her from his seat across her, taking in her lithe form against the rays of the sun that were peeking through the curtains on the window. "So, have you decided to be my medic?"

"No."

His eyebrows rose, and his lips curled upwards to form a small smile. "Oh? Then why are you here?"

"You forced me to come, _remember?_" She huffed, crossing her arms and stubbornly looking away.

"I gave you a choice."

"What the fuck? You call that a choice?"

He blinked, hearing her mutter incoherent profanities under her breath. "I didn't know you had a bad mouth, Saku—Haruno-san."

"I didn't know you were this talkative either." She shot back, leaning deeper into the couch.

"What do you mean?"

She smirked, shaking her head as she stared at the dull fireplace. It looked dull without fire. "A still tongue keeps a wise head."

He chuckled, capturing the kunoichi's attention yet again. He leaned his elbow on the armrest, tucking his hand under his chin. "You just called the two of us idiots."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

He remained quiet, thoughtfully watching as Sakura's gaze never left the fireplace. On her right, her emerald eyes flickered in a strange way that his heart almost skipped a beat. He watched more, noting the way her arms were crossed against her chest, her hand lying close to her kunai pouch, ready to take one and attack him anytime.

"I know now why my otouto wanted to protect you back then." He thought out loud to catch Sakura's attention.

"Protect me?" She snorted, shifting in her seat. Her fingers were drumming lightly against the couch's armrest and her teeth are tightly clenched. "I'm just a useless piece of—" She stopped herself from talking any further, closing her eyes and inhaling slowly.

"It's impossible." She paused. "What you're saying."

"I knew you would have that kind of reaction."

"Huh?"

"You think so lowly of yourself." He kept his eyes on her, curious of what she would say next. She always amused him in more ways than one, and he was enjoying himself by simply engaging in a conversation with her.

Even if it was a rather weird one.

Sakura glared at him. "Don't talk so familiarly about me. You think you know me, but you actually don't."

Itachi stiffened at what she said and she noticed this, blinking twice and then furrowing her eyebrows. "What now?"

"Otouto said the same exact thing. I guess you're right. I don't know you two very well, or what kind of relationship you two have." He glanced at the window. "How sad. I don't even know my own brother."

"And why are we talking about this?" Sakura found herself asking. It was a touchy subject when it came to her, but she really was curious about what Itachi thought about his brother.

"It's nothing. I just wanted to talk about him." He crossed his legs, leaning back on his chair.

Sakura laughed softly, her eyes staring teasingly at him. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Probably." He muttered, quickly changing the expression on Sakura's face to one of confusion. He knew that she was trying to mock him to get some answers from him. After all, her first love was his beloved younger brother.

Itachi knew Sasuke too well for Sakura's liking. "Probably? Are you really serious?"

He decided to ignore the question. Sakura barely knew anything about him and he wanted to keep it that way. "He cared enough to distract me so that I wouldn't come to you like what I've done now."

Sakura did not understand a word of what he was saying. He said something so irrelevant to the topic that she did not know how to react. Because of this, she frowned, unconsciously clenching her hands. She just had to play along. "You mean to say you've encountered him before, and he never killed you?"

"Yes."

"You did not kill him, did you?" Suspicion was evident in her perky voice.

Itachi stood up, on his face was a smile that disturbed Sakura very much. He turned his back on her, looking outside the window. "I'm afraid I'm in no position to tell you that."

"And why not?"

He grinned at her. Teeth and all. Which was weird in its own way. And for the life of her, she found it extremely attractive. His chivalrous actions, his face, his body, even his voice, she found those attractive.

Especially his eyes. Eyes the same as his brother's.

She stood up as well, briskly walking over to him, her face a mixture of emotions that she had been trying to push away ever since her last meeting with Itachi. She refused to believe that she was attracted to him.

She didn't want to fall in love ever again. She didn't want to build a family and have kids. She wanted to be _alone._

She wanted to believe that Sasuke would be the first and last person she would be in love with.

But it seemed that everything was turning around because of this fateful meeting.

"I really want to kill you, you know." She exhaled sharply, feeling a prickling sensation at the back of her eyes.

Itachi faced her, his forehead protector gleaming because of the sun's rays against him. "Why don't you?"

She stood still in front of him, silently taking note of their close distance. She clenched her hands more, enough to draw blood. He was trying to push her to her limit. He was trying to make her say it to his face.

It was then that it struck her. He knew.

He knew about her feelings.

She already knew by now that she was defeated by her feelings. She betrayed herself. She promised to herself that she would never let anything or anyone crush her heart just like what Sasuke had done, but it seemed that she was doing it all over again.

The fangirling thing. She was doing it all over again.

This time, it was more serious than ever.

"I can't."

She froze when she felt his cold hand wind itself in her hair, and stiffened even more when his other arm slid around her waist. She was trapped.

She was trapped in his arms.

She was trapped in her overflowing feelings for him.

"You can't? I see. You really are a lady after my own heart. We are the same." Itachi pressed his cheek against hers, his breath fanning against her ear as he spoke. The hand behind her head slid down against the back of her neck. "Always hesitating."

Sakura's hands grew limp at her sides, her eyes narrowing as she felt tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. "Sasuke-kun…"

"Yes. I always hesitated to kill him." He tightened his arms around her almost desolately, as if he himself was seeking comfort.

"I always hesitated to pluck his eyes out to save my own powers from fading."

Sakura's eyes widened. Is he dying?

"Itachi-san…"

"Happiness isn't ours for the taking…" He rubbed her back as he leaned his chin on her shoulder. He felt her arms move and wrap around his form, her face buried in his left shoulder. She laughed, the sound muffling against his clothes.

"We're closer than I originally thought."

"Aa."

Suddenly, Sakura found herself engulfed in so much warmth as his lips slanted over hers with such intensity she didn't know he had. She hummed, her fingers splaying against his hair. She responded with everything she could give in that kiss, her tongue sweeping lightly against his as tears flowed down her cheeks.

She felt it. His pain. Her pain. They share the same burden.

After that, her mind was clouded in darkness as she lost consciousness.

* * *

-

-

When she woke up the next morning, he was gone.

She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes as she searched for his presence. But he wasn't there.

_Once again, I'm left behind._

She was about to lie back down on the couch when she saw a small piece of paper on top of the table beside the couch she was sitting on. She took it with her dainty hands and smiled upon reading what was written.

-

-

_Sakura-san,_

_I want to thank you for spending the whole day with me. I know that I can really not take you away from home, so I just decided to not make you my medic anymore. And don't be mistaken, I do need a medic. I think you know that by now, after our talk yesterday. Just so you know, yesterday was my birthday. _

_Thank you, Sakura-san._

_And don't worry. We won't see each other anymore._

_-_

_-_

Sakura chuckled, placing a hand against her lips as she stared at the note. _He didn't even write his name._ She didn't know whether to smile or to cry.

She did both anyway. She was happy she was able to love him even for just a short amount of time.

* * *

-

-

END

* * *

-

-

A/N: I know that was weird. This is actually a plotless fic. I just went on with what came into my mind as I typed.

Anyway, this really bugs me for some reason. I wanted to make a humorous one-shot, but it ended up being angsty in the middle. Tell me your thoughts. Please. :)

REVIEW. I'm the kind of reader who ALWAYS reviews. You may start doing the same thing NOW. I want reviews. I even have a policy of no review, no update, but this is a one-shot. XD


End file.
